Watertight wrist-watch case



United States Patent WATERTIGHT WRIST-WATCH CASE Ernest Morf, Beauregard15, La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland Filed Mar. 12, 1957, 'Ser. No.645,620 7 7 Claims priority, application Switzerland Nov. 30, 1956 1Claim. (CI. 58-90) This invention relates to watertight wrist-watchcases.

Watertight wrist-watch cases comprising an inner watertight unit locatedin an outer ornamented watch case part are already known in the art. Inthese known watch cases the only difference between the inner watertightunit and a common watertight watch case resides in the'fact that saidinner unit does not carry wrist-band attaching lugs. This innerunit'thus not only comprises elements adjusted together so as to ensurethe tightness of the unit, but also comprises means ensuring the closureof the unit.

It is now an object of the invention to provide a watertight wrist-watchcase of that type, in which the elements of the inner unit are only settogether in order to ensure the tightness of the case, and in which theouter casing part ensures the closure of that unit.

It is also an object of the invention to arrange the inner unit so thatit may be opened by removing the glass, means being provided in order toavoid the glass damaging.

A further object of the invent-ion consists in providing the glass withan outer peripheral shoulder and in setting a protecting ring under saidshoulder.

Still a further object of the invention consists in providing the outercase part with an inwardly extending flange covering the peripheralportion of the glass or at least a part of the protecting ring thereof(when the latter is rigidly fixed to the glass), thus avoiding the watchmovement, axially held in place in said inner unit by the glass,thrusting the latter out of its lodging as a consequence of repeatedimpacts.

Still further objects of the invention will become apparent in thecourse of the following description.

Three embodiments of the watch case according to the invention arerepresented by way of example in the drawings annexed to thisspecification.

In the drawings,

Figs. 1, 2 and 3 are each a sectional view of one of said embodiments.

The watch cases represented in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 comprise each an innerwatertight unit including a cap member 1 made out of a stainless steelsheet by stamping. The bottom portions 1a and the side wall portions 1bof these cap members have thus approximately the same thickness. Theside walls 1b are provided each with an inner shoulder 2 near the bottomportion 1a. The upper portion of the side walls 1b are provided with anannular peripheral recess 3 extending all around the cap membe thusforming an annular rim projecting above the upper face of said side Wallfrom the inner edge thereof. A pipe 4 for the passage of the winding andhand-setting stern of the watch movement is tightly fixed in an openingof every side wall portion 1b, said side wall portions being thickenough to firmly hold said pipes 4 in place. Encasing rings 5a (Fig. 1),5b (Fig. 2), 50 (Fig. 3) are set on the shoulders 2. These encasingrings are split to enable the passage of the winding and hand-settingstems as shown in particular in Fig. l. The said encasing rings mentshave dilierent sizes.

are adapted for receiving the watch movements: 6a (Fig. 1), 6b (Fig. 2),60 (Fig. 3).

By comparing the embodiment of Fig. 1 with the two other embodiments, itwill be observed that the cap member 1 is similarly shaped in everycase, although the move The watch movement differences are compensatedhowever by the various widths and heights of the encasing rings 5a, 5b,5c.

Each cap member 1 is tightly closed by glass 7 provided with an axiallyextending peripheral flange 8 set in the side wall 1b of the cap memberand pressed against it by a strengthening ring 9 coming in contact witha dial 10 fixed to the watch movement. The glasses 7 are furthermoreprovided each with an outer peripheral shoulder 11, and a protectingring 12 of substantially rigid material such as metal is located aroundtheir flanges 8' between the shoulder 11 and the upper face or" the capmember side wall. An annular lodging 13 is provided in these rings 12 toreceive a part of the glass shoulder 11.

To open the inner units represented, a knife blade for instance, may beintroduced into the groove formed under the protecting ring by therecess 3 of the cap member 1 so as to lift said protecting ring togetherwith the glass and to disengage the glass flange 8 from said cap member.During said operation the knife blade does not risk coming into contactwith the glass flange 8 because it butts against the rim projecting fromthe inner edge of the upper side wall portion of the cap member.Moreover, the metal rings 12 will not become distorted when opening thesaid units, although they are very small (their width is smaller thanthe thickness of the side walls 1b), because they are set around theglass shoulder 11 which holds them. For this purpose, tne lodging 13 ofthe protecting rings 12 and the glass shoulders 11 need only be adjustedexactly one with respect to the other.

The inner units described above consisting each of a cap member 1 and aglass 7 are tightly closed as soon as a watertight Winding crown is seton the pipe 4. Moreover, they have a standardized form and they can beset at will in differently ornamented outer casing parts.

In the first embodiment (Fig. l), the said inner unit is located in anouter casing part 14 forming together the visible bezel portion and thecase band carrying the wrist-band attaching lugs. The case band 14 isprovided moreover with an inwardly projecting flange 14a covering theglass protecting ring 12 and the peripheral portion of the glass 7 whichis provided with an annular lodging 18. To enable assembling said watchcase, the width of the protecting ring 12 should not be larger than thethickness of the wall 1b. A U-shaped notch 15 is provided in the caseband 14 to ensure the passage of the pipe 4. Eventually, the innersurface of the case band 14 and the outer surface of the side wall 1bare adjusted with respect to one another so that the inner watertightunit is held by friction in the case band without requiring furtherfixing means. In this embodiment the bottom portion 1a of the inner unitalso constitutes the watch case bottom.

Due to the fact that the glass 7 holds the watch movement 6a axially inplace in the cap member 1 it could happen after repeated impacts thatthe Watch movement thrusts the glass 7 out of the cap member 1. Thisrisk is, however, avoided by the inner flange 14a of the casing outerpart because the wrist band thrusts it on the peripheral glass portionand because the cap member bottom portion of the inner unit lies on theWrist.

If the inner diameter of the protecting ring 12 and the outer diameterof the strengthening ring 9 are chosen so that the glass flange 8 willbe bent outwards when said rings are set in place, the protecting ring12 is firmly fixed to the glass 7. As a consequence the inwardlyprojecting flange 14a of the case band 14 needs only to extend over apart of the protecting ring 12 to hold the glass 7 axially in place inthe cap member 1.

In this first embodiment, it is, however, not advisable to reduce thewidth of this flange 14a, since the latter covers the peripheral portionof the glass 7 engaged between the cap member side wall and thestrengthening ring, thus avoiding the nnesthetic dark zone produced bysaid glass portion.

In the second embodiment (Fig. 2) the inner watertight unit (1, 7-) islocated in an outer casing part consisting of a golden sheath. Thissheath comprises a case band 16 and a bottom 17 snap-fitted to said caseband. The glass 7 is also provided at its periphery with a lodging 18and the bezel portion 19 extending inwardly from the case band 16 andmade integral therewith, fills said lodging so that the peripheralflange 8 of the glass 7 is hidden by said-bezel which also holds saidglass in the cap member 1. The strengthening ring 2 which is visible, isgiven, of course, the same appearance as the outer casing part; thisstrengthening ring is either made of gold or at least gold-plated.

It will also be observed in this second embodiment that the goldensheath can be made very thin without risk of crushing, since it is heldby the inner unit which has exactly the same shape as the outer sheath,thus serving as support therefor. Experiments have shown that thethickness of the sheath 16, 17 may be chosen almost equal to half thethickness of the usual golden cases.

Instead of a cylindrical side wall 1b and a cylindrical glass flange 8,the surfaces of the cap member and of the glass which engage oneanother, could also be made truncated conical, as shown in Fig. 3. Inthis third embodiment the inner surface of the side wall 1b and theouter surface of the glass flange 8 are truncated conical sothat thesmaller diameter of these truncated conical portions is situated withinthe cap member. It is well known in the art, that such conical portionsconstitute a satisfactory seat for the glass provided that the openingangle of said truncated conical portions be chosen between 2 and 4.

The watch cases described hereabove have several advantages with respectto the watch cases known in the art comprising an inner watertight un-itset in an outer case part.

Important series of elements can be manufactured in advance withoutconsidering the movements which will have to be mounted in said cases.Sets of rings a, 5b, So with different widths and heights will enablelocating several watch movement types in the same cap members 1.

The side walls of the inner watertight unit are so thin that the saidunit actually does not increase the watch diameter substantially. In thecaseof the golden watch, the watch movement cannot be expected to besurrounded by two sheaths. The watch has exactly the same appearance asusual golden watches. With respect to the usual golden watches the watchrepresented in Fig. 2 moreover has the advantage to be substantiallycheaper because its two golden parts need not be connected to oneanother in a tight manner, and since these parts are substantiallythinner than the corresponding parts of a golden case comprising a thingolden sheath.

With respect to the cap members known in the art, which also comprise abottom portion and a side wall portion, the cap members 1 and theencasing rings 5a, 5b, 5c are much easier to manufacture, for instance,by stamping the cap member 1, and then either coiling a sectional threadwith a subsequent cutting, or stamping the rings 5a, 5b, 50, instead ofthe stamping and lathe-turning operations necessary with the known capmembers. The rings 5a, 5b, 50 can obviously be set in place in said capmembers immediately before selling them.

Moreover, the cap members 1 and the glasses 7 constitute watertightsheaths for the watch movement and their closure is sufficiently ensuredto enable stocking and mailing the watches without outer casings, sothat the latter can be made by another manufacturer-who is not boundwith tolerances which are so narrow as those of the inner unit parts.

The inner extending flange portion of said outer casings has thetechnical elfect of holding the inner unit tightly closed as well as theesthetic effect of hiding the unesthetic peripheral dark-zone of theglass portion'engaged between the bezel and the strengthening ring.

While several embodiments of the invention has been disclosed hereabove,it will be understood that various changes in the shape, sizes andarrangement of parts could be resorted to'without sacrificing theadvantages of the invention or departing from the scope of the subjoinedclaim. Y Y

I claim:

A watertight wrist-watch case consisting of an inner standardizedwatertight unit and an outer ornamented part surrounding said inner unitto ensure its closure and carrying wrist-band attaching means, saidinner unit 'comprising a rust-proof metal cap member having a bottom anda side wall portion, a peripheral rim extending upwardly from'the inneredge of the upper face of said cap member, a glass provided with anaxially extending peripheral flange engaged in said rim "and in theupper portion of said cap memberside wall, a strengthening ringcompressing said glass flange radially against the side wall of said capmember, an outer peripheral shoulder provided on said glass, and aprotecting ring surrounding said glass flange and located between saidglass shoulder and said cap member rim, in abutting engagementtherewith, said protecting ring extending beyond said cap member rim toform together with the cap member upper face, a groove permittingengagement of'a sharp blade therein to separate said glass from said capmember, and

' said outer case part comprising an'upper flange extending inwardlyabove'said protecting ring to secure said inner unit axially in saidouter case part.

References Cited in the file of this patent FOREIGN PATENTS

